Visiting Graves
by GemEncrustedEarth
Summary: this is the result of a long talk with a good friend and with my mother and i promise that this time it is finished...tissue related content!
1. Chapter 1

Gem: This is dedicated to my mother and an awesome friend who has helped me with so many things. She knows who she is. Aside from that, I don't own the characters.

Miroku stared silently at his friend. A friend who currently seemed to be going through some sort of either emotional or spiritual crisis. Far as he knew said friend wasn't spiritual in the least. He wondered if he would be able to get his friend to do something he did on occasion. Visit his mother's grave.

"You really need to stop beating yourself up about this. Besides it might make you feel better."

"No."

"And why not my dear friend?"

"Feh."

"That is not an answer. Sango and Kagome are gone. Go visit your parents. And quit scaring the village. They trust you but with the way you've been, I swear that you're going to snap and then have a very angry miko on your tail."

"Fine. I'm going; I'm going."

Miroku watched as his friend leapt into the trees with ease and headed off towards the west. He smiled and turned back to the village. Maybe now his friend would stop moping.

XXXXXXXX

A young man walked up to the base of a tree. There was a marker there but it was well hidden. He was surprised that it was still there after all these years. And it surprised him every time he came.

"Hey mum. I'm sorry I haven't stopped by in a while. I've been busy. We're almost done finding the fragments of the Sacred Jewel and a friend pestered me into coming. Told me I needed to quit moping. Remember how I told you about Kagome? I'm in a bit of a rut. I like her but I'm not sure if I like her past that. Would you be able to help?"

Inuyasha felt a slight breeze come up and he realized with a start that the answer was already staring him in the face. How could he have missed it? He had been rude to her at first and tried to protect both of them by pushing her away. But she proved to be just as stubborn. She came back to him time and time again.

"Thanks mum. If you see dad, pass the word along."

As he leaped through the trees back to Kaede's village, he realized what exactly Miroku had done. Parents were wonderful people even if you had caused them grief. And the visit to his mother's grave had helped. He had a strange pack. In some way each of them lost their parents. And he realized the slight irony behind everything. Sango and Kagome were practically sisters but they had lost the parent of the opposite sex. Same could be said of him and Miroku. Was that the reason the girls would always tend to leave around the same time? Were they visiting the graves of the people they loved?

Maybe he should do this more often.


	2. Chapter 2

Gem: A reviewer asked if it was only going to be a oneshot. I've decided to make it a twoshot since I got another idea. This chapter's a bit sappier than the first so I suggest grabbing a tissue now while you can. I only own the ideas that float through my head.

It was time to go again. This time though it was going to be harder. He knew immediately that they were near his mother's grave. And he knew that he wanted to visit again. Miroku hadn't let out his secret thanks to whatever gods happened to be listening. They decided to camp outside the village as it was already fairly late. He wandered off into the woods with the excuse of hunting. In reality, though, he was going to visit his mother's grave before he hunted for his pack.

"I'm back again mom. I'm waiting for the right time. I don't know when but it'll be soon. Her mother approves and all I need is for it to be her birthday. She doesn't know that I come here but I promise I'll bring her sometime soon. I know that you would have loved to meet her. First thing both her and her mother did was play with my ears; neither one asked about them. I've gotten lucky mom."

He turned to go after placing some flowers on his mother's grave. With a small smile, he headed out for what he originally intended to do. He however didn't notice the person who had followed him; the wind had been blowing the wrong way.

XXXXXXXX

"_Is this where he goes? Miroku's been strangely silent about what's taking Inuyasha so long. But is that where his mother's buried?"_

She hurried back to the campsite determined to go with him at least once. Obviously his mother had been his whole world once. And then for a long time he had no one. Now he had someone, well more like a very strange pack. She didn't mind at all. In fact, it was nice being able to watch him change.

XXXXXXXX

It was real late by now; she was still awake as was he. Looking up, she was determined to ask him about everything. He felt her gaze and hopped out of the tree he was sitting in. Holding a finger to her lips, he pulled her out of her sleeping bag. She grabbed his hand as he led her into the forest before he stopped at a small meadow. She gathered some flowers and he continued to lead her. They stopped underneath a tree that had a small marker at its base.

"Your mother?"

A nod was all she needed. She knelt down and placed her own flowers on the grave.

"I would have loved to have met her. She was your entire world when you were young, wasn't she?"

He nodded again and then began to talk to the air.

"I'm back again mom." He placed a hand on her arm. "This is Kagome. I wish you were still alive to meet her but I made a promise to bring her here. I know that you would be happy mom."

"I'm also happy that I met your son. He is an amazing person."

The wind blew around both of them in a gentle caress and both gently got up. From what they could tell, his mother approved and was glad that her son was happy.

Looking back at the grave one more time as they headed back to camp, he smiled.

"_Thanks mom…for everything."_


	3. Chapter 3

"_Since I've been young all I've wanted was a friend. Now I have friends. Mother, you'd be so proud if you were here."_

I have often dreamed  
Of a far-off place  
Where a great warm welcome  
Will be waiting for me  
Where the crowds will cheer  
When they see my face  
And a voice keeps saying  
This is where I'm meant to be

He smiled slightly as he led his friends through the trees. His friends; the first ones he ever had. They understood what it took for him to show them this place. They only knew part of his past and yet that hadn't stopped any of them.

I will find my way  
I can go the distance  
I'll be there someday  
If I can be strong  
I know ev'ry mild  
Will be worth my while  
I would go most anywhere  
to feel like I belong

He had thought he'd found the way but it wasn't right. He'd tried to push away the first person who had ever shown him that he couldn't be alone forever. She carried more flowers for the grave and sneaking a look over his shoulder, he could see even more flowers in his friends' arms.

I am on my way  
I can go the distance  
I don't care how far  
Somehow I'll be strong  
I know ev'ry mile  
Will be worth my while  
I would go most anywhere  
to find where I belong

He stopped in front of the same tree he had the last time they were out this way. He watched the girls kneel down and place the flowers on the grave. Finally he knew people who accepted him for who he was and became a second family for him. He suddenly found himself in the middle of all his friends.

"She'd be proud to have a son like you."

He smiled and for once, let himself openly cry.

"Thanks."

"_Look at me mom. Look how far I've come. A pack; a…family of my own. She's right, you would be proud. You're probably looking at me and saying how proud you are of me."_

Gem: Okay I promise that this is the last chapter. Thanks to iNuQTpIe I managed to get a final idea of what I wanted.


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